Russian Attacks Target Ukrainian Civilians As Zelenskyy Attends EU Defense Summit

Ukraine was hit by a series of deadly Russian drone and missile attacks targeting civilian infrastructure following Washington's decision to pause military shipments and intelligence sharing with Kyiv as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Brussels for a summit with EU leaders.

How to bridge the gap brought by newly cutback US support is set to factor into the gathering in Brussels, where the Ukrainian president and European leaders are set to discuss an 800 billion euro ($844 billion) plan to bolster Europe's defense industry, ramp up military capability, and help provide urgent military support for Ukraine.

Recent moves out of Washington and the latest developments on the battlefield -- which include a missile attack on Zelenskyy's hometown of Kryviy Rih late on March 5 and Russian claims that its forces captured a new village in eastern Ukraine -- loom over the summit.

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4 Killed As Missile Hits Hotel In Zelenskyy's Hometown

Zelenskyy said in a social media post that at least four people were killed in the attack on the central city where he was born, adding Russia's actions showed there can be no pause in putting pressure on the Kremlin "to stop this war and terror against life."

Officials will be looking at how to recalibrate both the high-stakes diplomacy over ending the war in Ukraine and the grinding combat on the battlefield to the Trump administration's decisions to pause military supplies and intelligence-sharing with Kyiv.

"I want to believe that the United States will stand by us. But we have to be ready if that is not the case," French President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address to on the eve of the summit where he warned that Moscow would not top at Ukraine and said that Paris was willing to extend its nuclear umbrella to other European nations.

In response to the halt in US intelligence-sharing, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu also said on March 6 that Paris will be offering its intelligence capabilities to Ukraine.

The series of moves highlights the frantic pace of developments around the war as Washington, Moscow, Kyiv, and European capitals move quickly to adjust plans and proposals that could help set the stage for a lasting agreement on the three-year war in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to Macron's comments, telling reporters on March 6 that the French president's speech was "extremely confrontational" and claimed that France wants the war to continue.

Separately, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Macron's comments on expanding the protection of France's nuclear arsenal to other European countries posed a threat to Russia. He added that that any deployment of peacekeepers from a NATO country, even if they were not part a deployment through the alliance, such as a recently floated proposal for a British- and French-led force, would be treated by Moscow as a NATO presence in Ukraine.

"We do not see space for compromise here," Lavrov said, reiterating Moscow's position against any NATO footprint in Ukraine.

As they meet in Brussels, Europeans leaders will look come together to carve out their own positions on how to best support Ukraine at the negotiating table and on the battlefield.

According to a draft outlining the goals of the summit seen by RFE/RL, the summit aims to release up enough funds for EU member states to spend on defense as part of a plan outlined by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen called REARM Europe meant to see Europe play a greater role in supporting Kyiv militarily and helping to strike a peace deal that won't sideline Ukraine.

Camille Grand, a former high-ranking NATO official who also held several positions at the French foreign and defense ministries, says it will be crucial for European governments to provide defense backing that offers some form of security guarantees to Kyiv if they are to bridge the current gap in talks aimed at finding a settlement.

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"Security guarantees have become the key to the negotiation. In the absence of such guarantees, Ukraine will be extremely reluctant to sign up to any peace deal," Grand, who is now a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told RFE/RL. "As likely principal providers of such guarantees, the Europeans have regained some leverage in the process."

As leaders look to make progress in Brussels, they will also need to mov quickly to bolster Ukraine's defenses and its forces in the short term.

The Russian strike on Kryviy Rih killed at least four people and injured more than 30 people, and marked the first long-range attack on civilian infrastructure since the United States paused sending military supplies and sharing intelligence.

The precise significance of US intelligence to Ukraine's war effort has never been fully laid out in public, but Ukrainian officials have said it could affect the country's ability to protect itself against Russian missile strikes. It could also hinder Ukraine's ability to carry out effective long-range drone strikes on Russia and in using advanced US weapons to launch and repel attacks, such as Patriot and NASAMS air-defense systems, as well as HIMARS long-range rocket launchers and Stormshadow missiles supplied by Britain and France.

Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said at a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart, Rustem Umerov, ahead of the summit that Poland will continue to logistically support Ukraine and that it has already started delivering a new aid package worth up to 200 million euros ($215 million).

"We continue to support Ukraine as we have from the first day of the war. It is incredibly important for us," Kosiniak-Kamysz said.

Trump administration officials have suggested the pause in military aid and intelligence-sharing could be relatively short-lived if Zelenskyy is willing to return to the negotiating table, something the Ukrainian president has indicated he is willing to do.

US national-security adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News on March 5 that the White House would consider restoring aid to Ukraine if peace talks were arranged and confidence-building measures taken. Discussions were ongoing with Ukraine over a date and place for talks, he said.

Relations between Kyiv and Washington have been rocky since an Oval Office argument between Zelenskyy, Trump, and US Vice President JD Vance on February 28 that saw the Ukrainian president publicly berated and asked to leave the White House without signing a strategically important minerals deal.

Zelenskyy has since been willing to sign the deal and taken steps to try to repair his relationship with Washington.

On the battlefield in Ukraine and parts of Russia, fighting is ongoing with high casualties but it remains largely stalemated in terms of either Kyiv or Moscow taking new territory.

It remains to be seen what effect, if any, the pause in military shipments and intelligence-sharing will have on the battlefield, but several high-ranking Democrats criticized the White House's decision on March 5.

Senator Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, called the decision to stop sharing intelligence an "ill-advised decision."

"Let me be clear: Cutting off intelligence support to our Ukrainian partners will cost [Ukrainian] lives," the Virginia Democrat said in a statement.

As European leaders gather in Brussels, they will be looking to move quickly to prevent that from happening. Most estimates forecast Ukraine could continue fighting through the summer without additional American aid or a surge of European assistance.